Time to rethink bee housing?
Because we have resident black bears on our property (!!!) we have had to think long and hard about how we will protect the honey bees. As of this writing, we are oscillating between a cage and an electric fence
. Many people get by with electric fencing, but bears are notoriously unfazed by the shocks (their fur is the ultimate insulator!)
On a trip to Malta, I came across this ancient apiary site.
Malta is well known for their fantastic honey (similar to New Zealand/Australia in plant selections) and some of the oldest human ruins are found here. I find it interesting and often very useful to refer to the knowledge of the ancients
. Why? Because they figured out many of the truths we take for granted - and set the stage for us to continuously prosper.
So what to make of this apiary? I have long toyed with the idea of creating a bee shed - to house the bees and close them up for winter. This type of structure provides rain, snow, and wind protection - but I always worried about the bees ability to fly out. This Maltese apiary clearly had bees covered on 5 sides with only one way in/out. I imagine the hives were housed in pots, logs, or maybe even baskets or boxes - then placed in these stone hollows. But why? Did it provide better elemental protection? Better resonance? A microbiological advantage? Were they better protected from raccoons, bears, badgers, mice, rats, ants? Does Malta have these predators? Did the bees stay in the hollows? Did they survive.....and thrive? How did they manipulate the hives? So many questions!!
The oldest beekeeping book I have read was from the late 1700s. It was an interesting tome of knowledge, and changed my view on the colony collapse issue forever. If you know of any older beekeeping books
- please send me a link to where I can find them. Somebody, somewhere has information that can help us solve this once and for all. Maybe it is me....
**Update** Though our tour guide assured us these were ancient apiaries and Malta is well known for its honey - cross checking these structures with those found all over Italy.... leads me to believe these may have actually been burial tombs instead of bee boxes. They look uncannily like the tombs in the catacombs where bones were placed after the bodies were stripped of flesh. Live and learn - and then get buried inan apiary a tomb.
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. Many people get by with electric fencing, but bears are notoriously unfazed by the shocks (their fur is the ultimate insulator!)On a trip to Malta, I came across this ancient apiary site.
Malta is well known for their fantastic honey (similar to New Zealand/Australia in plant selections) and some of the oldest human ruins are found here. I find it interesting and often very useful to refer to the knowledge of the ancients
. Why? Because they figured out many of the truths we take for granted - and set the stage for us to continuously prosper.So what to make of this apiary? I have long toyed with the idea of creating a bee shed - to house the bees and close them up for winter. This type of structure provides rain, snow, and wind protection - but I always worried about the bees ability to fly out. This Maltese apiary clearly had bees covered on 5 sides with only one way in/out. I imagine the hives were housed in pots, logs, or maybe even baskets or boxes - then placed in these stone hollows. But why? Did it provide better elemental protection? Better resonance? A microbiological advantage? Were they better protected from raccoons, bears, badgers, mice, rats, ants? Does Malta have these predators? Did the bees stay in the hollows? Did they survive.....and thrive? How did they manipulate the hives? So many questions!!
The oldest beekeeping book I have read was from the late 1700s. It was an interesting tome of knowledge, and changed my view on the colony collapse issue forever. If you know of any older beekeeping books
- please send me a link to where I can find them. Somebody, somewhere has information that can help us solve this once and for all. Maybe it is me....**Update** Though our tour guide assured us these were ancient apiaries and Malta is well known for its honey - cross checking these structures with those found all over Italy.... leads me to believe these may have actually been burial tombs instead of bee boxes. They look uncannily like the tombs in the catacombs where bones were placed after the bodies were stripped of flesh. Live and learn - and then get buried in
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